New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-10-18
THE CHILDS FOUNTAIN At STRATf0RD-0N'
AVON

AporM pY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
Welcome, thrice welcome is thy sliVery g'eain'
Thou long imprisoned stream!
Welcome tho tinkle OF thy crystal beads
A plashinc raindrops TO the Nowery mcads,
As SINNERS breath to Avon's whispering reedsl
From rockwalled channels, drowned in rayess night
Leap forth to life and light;
Wake from tho darkness of thy troubled Dream,
And greet with answering smile the mornings beam
No purer lymph the whte-llmbed Naiad knows
Than from thy chatcc flows;
Not tho bright spring OF Afrio's sunny shores,
Starry with spangles washed from golden ores,
Nor CLASSY stream Blandusias fountain pours'
Nor wave translucent where Sahrina fair
Braid, her loose flowing hair
Nor the swift current, stainless a. 1t rOse'
where chill AIveiron steals from Alpine SHOWS.
Here shall the traveller stay his weary feet
To seek thy calm retreat;
Here, when the shadows, lengthenlng from 'ho "@9'
Gail the mute song bird 10 his leay nest,
Marvn and maid shall chat the cares away
That brooded DER the day,
vhio aochinr round them troops of children meet,
And all the arches ring with Laughter sweet
Hero shall the steed, his patient life who spehos'
In toll that ends,
Hot from his thirsty tramp DER hill and pam
Plunge his red nostrs, while the torurlhg rem
Drors in loose loops beside his floating name;
Nor the door brute that shares MS MASTER D io'
Find his small needs forgot
Trest OF humble long enduring friends
whose presence cheers, whose guardian care dcfcnds
Here lark and thrush and nightingale shall sip,
And Swimming swallows dip,
And strange shy wanderers fold their lustrous pumes
Fragrant from bowers that lent their sweet perfumes
Where Pastum's rose OF persia's lilac blooms,
Here from his cloud the eagle stoop ~ uIinA
At the full basins brink,
And hct his beak against its ROUNDED ZIP,
His glossy feathers gnstening as they DRIP
Hero shall the dreaming poet lmger lOng'
Far from his listening thong
Nor Int nor lyre his trembling hand shall bring;
Here no frail Muse shall imp her crippled wing
No faltering minstrel strain his throat to sing!
These hallowed echoes who shah dare TO claim
Whose tuneless voice would shame,
wbose ianrnc chords with jarring notes would wrong
Tho nymphs that heard the swan Of Avons song
What visions greet the pilgrims raptured eyes,
What ghosts made real rise
Tho dead return-they breathc-they live again,
Joined by the host of Fancy's airy train' ,-.
Fresh from the springs OF Shakespeares qlncAehlhS
brain! -
The stream that stakes the sours diviner thirse
Here found the sunbeams first;
p,cb with his fame not less shall memory prize
Tho gracious gift that humber wants suppnes
o,o, ,,a wide waters reached tho hand that gave
To an this bounteous wave,
With health and strength and Joyous beauty haueh'
Dles be the generous pledge Of friendship, brought
From the far home OF brothers love, unbougnt
Long may fair Avon's fountain flow, ehroheo
With storied shrines OF old,
Castalia's spring. Egeria's dewy cave,
And Horeb's rock the God Of Israel clave!
Land OF our Fathers ocean makes US TWO,
But heart to heart is true!
Proud Is your towering daughter In the "est'
Yet in her burning lfe-blOod reign contest
Her mothers pulses beating in her breast
This holy fount, whose riils from heaven descehu
Its gracious drops shall lend
Roth forcneads bahed in that baptismal dow
Ana love make one the old home and the newt